One of the questions we get most about our travels, even more than “why are you going there?”, is “how do you choose where you’re going to go next?”

Well, I’ve been reluctant to share this, but we have a Magic Globe. We found it in a small shop in Southern Egypt. When you say “I want to go…” the globe starts to spin, slowly at first, before speeding up to the point where there is an audible “whirrrr”. As it spins, countries all over the globe randomly light up and and then go dark. Then, with no warning, the globe stops spinning leaving only a country or two glowing. That’s where we go next.

Ok, it’s not that interesting a story. Really, any number of things can lead to our next destination. We went to Iceland because Katy had to look at their ads on the subway day after day on her way to work. We went to Jordan because we didn’t get to see Petra when we were in Egypt. Southeast Asia came after a discussion with friends, and because I had never been to Asia. Really it can be anything.

In this case, it’s simply been 5 years since we went to Peru and we wanted to get back to South America. With limited vacation time this one will be a quick dash through Brazil and Argentina. We land in Buenos Aires and will work our way north through Iguassu, Sao Paulo, and Parati before finishing in Rio. We’ll also try and slip into Paraguay and Uruguay along the way. Of course, for these to count against our country visit goal, we’ll need to have a meal.

Needless to say, we’re looking forward to the trip. With luck, we’ll have some good stories to post here as a result, so stay tuned.